Back in 2022, Peter Safran and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn were named as co-chairs of DC Studios, meaning that they're in charge of making movies and TV shows based on DC Comics. Warner Bros. Discovery hasn't had as much success in this area as it would like, with films like Justice League underperforming and films like Blue Beetle flying largely under the radar. Can they turn things around?
The first big movie made under Safran and Gunn's stewardship will be Superman, which makes sense; if you're rebooting the DC Cinematic Universe, why not start with DC's most recognizable hero (give or take Batman)? "We’re deep in the process of editing," Gunn said of the movie at New York Comic Con, per The Hollywood Reporter. "David Corenswet is going to fucking blow people away. He is the movie star that everyone just dreams he could possibly be. I don’t think anyone really understands the depth of this guy’s talent dramatically, comedically. He’s the best physical action star I’ve probably ever worked with...It won’t be too long before we see a trailer, but it also won’t be too soon.”
Superman is due out in July of next year. It will feature a cameo from House of the Dragon veteran Milly Alcock as Supergirl, who will go on to have her own movie down the line. “Ana and Craig , the writer and director, have been doing a fantastic job spearheading this," Gunn said. "We start shooting in England in January."
"Anna came in, and she pitched the story to me of Supergirl, and it was just one of the best pitches I’ve ever heard, and she immediately wrote it. She came in with the first draft that was great, and it’s just gotten better and better. Then Craig has been incredibly easy to work with, and I can’t wait for that to come out. It’s very much based on Tom King’s comic, Woman of Tomorrow. There are of course differences because it’s a three-act structure, so it’s a little bit different in the structure which goes through various stories but it has all those major characters, the major themes. Supergirl is a mess. It’s something I can’t wait for people to see. I think it is a completely different unique take on a superhero."
Gunn also mentioned that the movie will feature the character of Ruthye, a kind of sidekick to Supergirl looking for revenge on behalf of her murdered father. In the comic Woman of Tomorrow, they travel across the galaxy together. Incidentally, the Supergirl movie is called Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.
We don't know who will play Ruthye, but we're looking forward to seeing Milly Alcock up on the big screen after her performance as young Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon. The movie is due out in 2026.
James Gunn gives updates on Lanterns, Peacemaker season 2, and more
Gunn gave updates on a lot of upcoming DC projects. Superman will be the first movie released under his leadership, but the first new DC thing will be a TV show called Creature Commandos, which is a Suicide Squad-esque freaky-misfits-have-to-team-up kind of adventure. Watch the trailer for the new animated series below:
Creature Commandos will premiere on Max on December 5. The show will cross over with the larger DC Cinematic Universe that Gunn and Safran are trying to build; for instance, the character of Rick Flag appears in the show, but he's also in the live-action series Peacemaker; in both instances, he's played by Frank Grillo. Gunn said that he tried to cast people who could also play these characters in live-action, and indeed, there are some decent-sized names among the cast. David Harbour plays Frankenstein, Indira Varma plays the Bride, and Alan Tudyk plays Dr. Phosphorus.
That said, obviously Creature Commandos looks very different than, say, the upcoming Superman movie or the Peacemaker TV show. "Every single project out of DC Studios is going to be its own thing," Gunn said. "We want this to be very different from what Superman is going to be when that comes out...It’s a connected universe but we’re not imposing any overall aesthetic.”
As long as we're talking about DC stuff, let's go over a few highlights from the panel:
- Recently we learned that Rebel Ridge star Aaron Pierre will play Green Lantern John Stewart on the upcoming HBO show Lanterns, alongside Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan. "It’s a much more it’s a very grounded series, a very real series, which is a strange thing to say about a Green Lanterns show," Gunn said. "But it’s going to be something like nobody’s ever seen before.”
- Filming on the second season of Peacemaker is ongoing; Gunn shouted out director Greg Mottola for doing great work in season 1 and improving markedly in season 2.
- Gunn emphasized that he doesn't want the new DCU to be the kind of cinematic unvierse where you need to do a lot of homework. “This is first and foremost about story. We don’t want anybody to come to Creature Commandos going, ‘Oh, you have to watch the Suicide Squad to understand what happened in Creature Commandos,'" he said. "We want people to be able to come in this blind and then be totally excited about it."
We'll be watching as all this stuff rolls out.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.
h/t Just Jared